Christian Thomas Russell

The Best "To Do" List Ever...(from my daughter's desk)

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:06:00 +0000

Dogbert: the Green Consultant

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:00:00 +0000

rockin kid

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:05:00 +0000

love this guy. playing hotel california...nice arrangement.

Things That are Beautiful: Spring, Fall, Dusk, Times Square and Internet Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:19:00 +0000

I love spring...and fall. And I just figured out why. where I live, they're very short. they're fleeting. My favorite time of day is dusk. It lasts about 10 minutes or so. There's something about standing outside and taking in the air at these times. You feel as if you're in a state of immediacy. You're witnessing change. What you see now, in very short order, will not be here any longer. So take it in and enjoy it, because it will soon pass.

As I realized this, I also realized that this is why I love internet marketing. It's become an actual passion of mine. something I truly enjoy. I don't just do it to build my business; I actually revel in it...and I love internet marketing for the same reason I love dusk. The moment you feel yourself getting used to something, it doesn't work anymore. It's over. It's time to move on. To me this is beautiful. Standing on the cusp of change is pretty cool.

By engaging in internet marketing, I feel I'm dipping my fingers into something of historic significance. It is something that will truly precipitate global change, and I'm a part of it. Yet as integral as it is, many components are likely to not be remembered. At all. For example, will blogging be remembered as a force that took over the world, transforming the art of publishing forever, or will it be relegated to the same status as some unfound Indian arrowhead buried in a hill somewhere, perhaps symbolizing a long-forgotten battle that was significant in it's day but over the course of history bears very little weight at all? Things change so fast these days that I feel anyone who ventures to guess is just deluding themselves. You don't know. No one does. That's why it's such an awesome time to be alive.

Where does what we do fit in? Where does Facebook fit in for example? In a world where huge entities like this can come to power over the course of mere weeks or months, change everything they touch in fundamental and important ways and then disappear overnight, what actually matters? What will be looked back upon as the essential moments of history a hundred years from now?

In this age where we feel all so connected, more connected than we've ever been, we're also more anonymous. the world is at once smaller and larger, because now that the physical distance between us means so much less when it comes to our relationships, we find ourselves in the middle of a network of "friends" that really is too much for anyone to reasonably handle. The world IS big. It's frickin huge, and we know it now more than ever. The world isn't smaller because we're more connected. We're simply more anonymous. Like standing in the heart of Times Square. 500,000 people will walk right by you in a day's time, yet it's unlikely that even one person will actually engage you in conversation.

This paradigm does not improve things. It just makes things different. It makes them more like I like them to be. Constant change can be confusing, but it can also be amazing if you know how to appreciate it. I don't mean my Times Square metaphor to be negative. It is one of my favorite places on earth. It can bring you to a meditative state if you allow it. Appreciating the moment, no matter how chaotic, is beautiful. Living in the moment is invaluable, and when things change moment to moment, how can we help but live in the moment? It's all we have!

Trying to keep up with every detail in a world like this is a recipe for madness. Instead, do as I do. Meditate. Life is beautiful. Change is constant. Appreciate the moment, because tomorrow everything will be different.

Working for Money

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:41:00 +0000

I am not a fan of working for money. I find the whole business distasteful. It's come to my understanding lately that this can at times be a little idealistic. As a result of the economy I have lost several accounts. I blame it on the economy anyway; it sounds good, right?

These accounts are what have been the bulk of my income the past few years. So it looks as if I'm in a situation where I must get my ass in gear. I don't like getting my ass in gear. It's much more fun and important to build things and make "real" money.

Does this make sense? I've argued with other professionals on how I prefer to get paid; I'm often looked at as some kind of fool. I'd rather generate a lead and refer it to a talented professional for a fee, instead of working the lead myself. I make $200 instead of $5,000 this way.

This is where my peers think I'm a fool, but the way I look at it, I can make $5,000 by working 200 hours for a client, taking on all the responsibilities and risks involved, OR I can make $200 in 5 minutes, assuming no legal responsibilities at all. To me, the latter is a much better deal. It just so happens that while I've had my head in the clouds the last few years, making "big" money, I've failed to build a contingency plan. I have several other "big money" systems in the works, and they are coming along nicely, but in the meantime my immediate income has dropped off a cliff.

It seems that working for money...getting your hands dirty from time to time is absolutely necessary. And that's what I'm doing. I've created a new job for myself, and it seems that by rolling up my sleeves and working my face off for a bit, I just might not have to go on a Ramen noodle diet. I will do my best to keep you apprised of how things progressed. I'm a little nervous, humbled and excited all at the same time. It reminds me very much of the day I first got started in sales about 10 years ago. I felt like I was going to puke, and it ended up being the best thing I've ever done in my professional career. Getting out of my comfort zone now, dammit.

Is Nationalized Health Care Really Fair?

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:19:00 +0000

Every time I say I think the government should back off health care...back off a lot of things in general actually, I always get a sad story in reply. Someone wants to make sure that I know about how they've been sick or someone they know was in an accident, and it's SO expensive.

I clearly must have never had anything bad happen to me or my family, because if I understood how expensive health care can be, surely I would be in favor of nationalizing health care. Never mind the fact that I HAVE had run ins with our health system, and I'm fully aware of the fact that it sucks. It's way too expensive, way too complicated and way to obtuse.

It's funny to me that some people think more government is the solution to making things easier and more affordable. Since when does government make ANYTHING easier or more affordable? Seriously, name something. Have you checked in on our public school systems lately? How about the IRS tax code...have you read that behemoth? No, you haven't, or else you would be intimately aware of how inept the government is at controlling costs and creating transparency.

Yet when we look to the government to help when it comes to problems with controlling costs and creating transparency!

Look, if government really has the ability to run things so well...we should give them control over everything. If not, we should handle that shit ourselves. The problem with health care is not that people don't have health insurance. It's that they cannot afford medical care. And the REASON they cannot afford it is because of government.

Instead of removing the blocks to transparency, instead of allowing costs to become reasonable and gain equilibrium with what real people are actually able to afford, we want to add MORE red tape to the process. We want to create MORE systems, and add them to the mix.

Why add, when you can trim? Is bloating our health care system even further really fair to anyone? The fact that something needs to be done is certain. We juiced up on steroids, and we've just had a stroke...something definitely needs to be done. I'm for going on a healthy diet, exercising and working hard to get leaned up. Obama and millions of other Americans just want to start taking steroids in larger doses to get juiced up even more. Will American hold out, or are we just going to drop dead?

Juicing more and more does help in the short term. It smooths out your aches and pains, but we have to start looking at REAL solutions. It's ironic that adding government is always seen as a compassionate thing to do. It's like a crack addict looking at his dealer as his best friend. Every time he starts hurting, he just goes in for a fix. Yeah, it fixes you alright. For about an hour. Then what?

Gold vs. Chaos

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:20:00 +0000

So there is a lot of talk on the interweb these days about how the US economy is going to bite the dust. We all need to buy a bunch of guns and ammo, because the end is near.

I have a question.

OK, I agree that if you have gold and the US dollar crashes, you will be safe from inflation. No one really can argue that gold is a killer inflation hedge. Thing is, if that happens, can you imagine what the world will look like?

If the US dollar crashes as Peter Schiff, Nouriel Roubini and these guys are saying will happen, we're looking at a total collapse of pretty much everything that involves money, globally. That's a pretty damn chaotic situation.

What good is a bag of gold coins going to do you in a situation like that?

Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:13:00 +0000

Making Money Online

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:03:00 +0000

I've found that making money online is pretty much the same as making money offline. I've operated businesses offline and been involved in sales for my entire adult life, and I've spent that last 3 years or so adapting everything to working online.

As it turns out, salesmanship, value, supply and demand, the exchange of money...pretty much everything has a direct comparison. There's so much lingo that we're lead to believe operating online is somehow ethereal or overly complicated...most people seem to consider it less real than brick and mortar business. I don't really understand why anymore.

The internet is where consumers are, so as far as I can tell any REAL business IS an online business. It's almost like any business that's not online...those are the ones that aren't living in reality.

Anyway, my blog Next Level Blogger has been up for a couple months now, and it's growing nicely so far. I love doing this. I've met some really cool people and continue to learn new things every day. I do blog consultation, sales and online marketing consultation. I'm in the process of finishing up an information product which I'll be giving to all my subscribers at no charge. 2 months and 400 subscribers; I can't complain. I want about 100k subscribers though, so there's still work to be done.

The US Dollar is Not Money

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:57:00 +0000

This one of the fundamental things I think feeds our misunderstanding about the economy and how to solve it's problems. If people understood the US Dollar is not money but only representative of money, we'd be a lot better off as a nation. We'd be richer, by far. We'd save more money, we'd instill our children with better financial habits and thinking, and we would not be susceptible to some of the ideas, which we're implementing today, which work in the short term, but long term are guaranteed to fail. I love the US, but we're a bunch of idiots when it comes to money.

Left vs Right...Everyone Needs to Grow Up

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:56:00 +0000

I'm tired of so many people throwing insults around just because someone is conservative or liberal. It's human nature to generalize, but it's essential be aware of our own behavior. Just because someone is conservative does not mean they're an insane hick. And just because someone voted for Obama doesn't mean they're part of a planned conspiracy to destroy America's wealth and turn us into Zimbabwe.

Is everyone really this narrow-minded? It's entirely possible that we're all a lot closer to agreeing with each other than we'd ever imagine. But to learn our common ground and actually produce a meaningful dialog, we're going to have to grow up a lot first.

A Thought on Socialism

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:30:00 +0000

I wanted to share this quote I read today, because it aptly voices my concerns about many of the changes our current president advocates. These are also changes many of my friends and loved ones believe in, and I cannot support them.

I believe in hard work, and I believe also in human nature...a nature that gradually drifts toward apathy. In order for there to be immense productivity, there needs to be immense reward and risk on the table as well. Charity is a good thing. Sharing is a good thing. But when these mechanisms of love are forced through legislation, they lose their power. Because the motivation is entirely different. We are convinced that money solves problems, and as long as we remain convinced of this, we will deteriorate as a nation.

If I give a homeless man a meal out of love, it is a good thing. But it is the love and compassion that is valuable. The homeless man could also procure a meal through robbing someone else. That is not a good thing. The net result is not the same, even the the homeless man's reward is exactly the same. One makes the world a better place, the other makes the world a worse place. It is not the material end that should motivate us but love. Love should motivate us. Love can be nurtured. It cannot be forced.

I do believe that socializing medicine, and all other systems of our society for that matter, would even things out. But since when is that fair?

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for,that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
~~~~ Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931

A Hawt Quote from Thoreau

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:32:00 +0000

Things do not change; we change -thoreau

I tweeted this out and got a lot of disagreement. I find that interesting. I got one retweet and an agreement from one follower. Everyone else was adamantly against this quote.

"Of course things change!" is the sentiment echoed over and over again. "How out of touch..." "What would Thoreau say now..." and so on and so forth.

So tell me, what has changed? Really, what has substantively changed about our world? Pay attention to what this quote says. It does not say there is no change. It says that things do not change...change precipitates from us. Change does not come from outside forces.

So what is it about the world that convinces us things are changing? The world still works the exact same way it always has. What has changed is us. Our thoughts. Our beliefs...and it is these things, not external forces, that precipitate all change in our world.

Now this does not mean we cannot cause massive change to the world. We can. The point is that it comes from us...not the world. And the importance of this is that we can affect change right back...if we choose to. The economic meltdown, the devaluation of the nation state (debatable I know...whatever, I argue this is happening), the devaluation of the dollar, massive and growing unemployment, globalization and everything else we see changing is not a result of anything but our beliefs being exercised. Again: "things do not change; we do." Our beliefs and convictions have far more power than we realize.

Our belief that things change and that we must adapt to this changing world is based on two faulty assumptions.

We do not each have the power to cause significant change in the world.
Our perceptions are definitive and realistic.

Let's look at #1. Do you agree? Or do you think I'm full of it? If we really believed we could cause change, we would not feel powerless when we lose our job, when a loved one leaves us, when our business folds, etc. Are any of these things representative of change? Or are they mere events, left for us to interpret however we wish? Do you believe that the current economic meltdown is proof that things change? Or is this merely a static event, which can be used as an excuse for failure or just as easily leveraged to build significant prosperity? Do you really believe you do not have a choice? You do.

A static event can not be characterized as change.

Regarding #2: Just because I see a mountain in front of me does not mean that you do not see a mere mole hill. And both of us are right. Our perceptions are choices we make, not definitive reality. When taxes go up, prices go up and my business goes under, I am fully free to interpret this as the world changing, when really what's happening is a static event. My beliefs are being challenged...something that has happened consistently since humans have walked the earth. This is not change. But how I choose to respond...what I direction I choose to go from here...what beliefs I choose to adopt and put into action...THAT can cause massive change not only in my own life but in the world.

Governments rising and falling, currencies and technologies coming and going...these are not change. They are only static occurrences, and we may interpret them however we wish. When Ford started manufacturing cars and created a revolution, was it the building of cars and everyone driving them and buying them that was the change? No. It was merely the idea that affected the change. Making a car is a static event. Creating the idea for an assembly line, for making the idea of driving a car popular, the phenomenon of a man selling millions of people on an idea...getting them to subscribe to his own belief...that is change.

"Things do not change; we do."

New Blog on How to Make Money Online and Sales Training

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:38:00 +0000

I just fired up a new business blog I'm really excited about! Next Level Blogger is a new business site for anyone interested in any of the following:

Click to visit my about page and let me know what you think :)

Besides throwing this post up to get some links going (obviously), I want to let you know about the new site, and I'd love to hear your thoughts, criticism, etc!

New Blog about Sales Training and Making Money Online

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:14:00 +0000

I just fired up a new business blog I'm really excited about! Next Level Blogger is a new business site for anyone interested in any of the following:

How to Skip Living a Balanced Life and Still Be Happy

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:15:00 +0000

Leo Babauta from Zen Habits recently wrote a post on how to achieve balance in your life. good topic. everyone wants that, right? Everyone wants balance. I believe balance is an illusion though. I not only believe this "balance" we all seek cannot be obtained; I beleive it does not even exist. It's kind of part of the appeal.

I like Leo's blog and read regularly. It's good to fill your mind with positive and helpful, energetic material on a regular basis, and Zen Habits is all about providing that in abundance. Here's the thing though: challenge what you read. Challenge your own thoughts and the thoughts of others. Just because something helps you does not mean it cannot be improved upon. It also doesn't mean it's even real. Think "placebo"...not everything is what it seems, and something doesn't need to be substantive in order to be helpful. the mind is powerful. More powerful than we understand.

This whole thing about acheiving balance in our lives is a great example of this. We seek it; we desire it. We read about it, and this motivates us to go on to improve our lives. It's a good thing. But the actual state of being in balance...it's shite. It's never going to happen, and we shouldn't even want us to happen.

I think we're ready for some next level stuff. I think we're ready to get to where we understand that the world is not a host of perfection...balance cannot be obtained. We look at successful people, rich people, happy people, energetic people...the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and we think it must be because these fantastic, beautiful people are most balanced. It's just not true. No one is in balance. The more successful you are, the MORE you have going on...the MORE chaotic your life will seem.

Read this article on Zen Habits, and you'll see what I'm talking about. there is a mentality that in order to be at peace, you need to be well-rounded. You need to concentrate on all areas of your life...to balance things out. Here's what we need to remember...

Everything connects. Your personal life is directly connected to your professional life. Your physical well-being is connected to your mental well-being. Your financial health is connected to what goals you can reasonably set for yourself. I don't believe it's necessary to work on all areas equally. I don't believe balance is worth pursuing. Goals are worth pursuing. Focus is it's own reward. Dedication and focus, hard work and perseverance do as much to bring balance as anything else.

Focus on one thing...focus on your physical fitness. The dedication, planning hard work necessary in order to acheive any significant fitness goal will produce a tidal wave of change in your life that affects everything...it will affect your work life, your personal life, etc. same wiht any other area. Working specifically to achevie balance in your life is crap. It's wasted energy. Just LIVE your life. If you want to work 18 hours a day for a while, do it. It will make you stronger. It will make you more effective. If you take it too far, your life will bitchslap you, and you will learn from that as well.

See, balance is not something to be pursued. It's something to witness and appreciate for the brief moments in our life when things seem to be great. And when the moment passes, we shouldn't grieve for it. We should simply go back to work. That's what life is about...work. screw balance.

A Thought on Having Computer Problems

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:30:00 +0000

People throw up their hands in despair...I see it almost daily. They are having problems with their damn computer again. Stupid thing. It doesn't make sense. It takes too much time. It takes SO LONG for your computer to boot up. It is SO DIFFICULT to learn how to set up your website. Social networking "doesn't make sense". Or you've tried it and it "doesn't work"...whatever that means. Maybe your cell phone has crashed again, and you just want to throw it out the car window...give up. All this damn techonology takes more time and effort than it's worth. Doesn't anyone know how to use a PHONE anymore???

I've talked to so many business owners and professionals from all different industries, and many of you want to justify your inefficiencies on "technology problems". It takes too much time and costs too much money to learn how to manage a blog, to write a blog, to market yourself online. It causes too many headaches to learn what's needed. Besides, you're not techy anyway, so it's hopeless for you isn't it? Guess what...your customers are online, and if you're not connected to them, they're connecting to someone else. You are becoming completely, totally, absolutely obsolete.

Here's something to think about...everything worth doing is problematic. Everything worth doing is challenging. Ever been in traffic? What a pain, right. Damn bastard traffic. All these other cars. How can you possibly be expected to get anything done with all these other cars on the road? How can you possibly be expected to get to work on time? Stupid traffic. Maybe you should give up driving. It's too expensive anyway. Try giving your boss THAT excuse. Try telling your customers that you can simply not be bothered with all this car business, and if they want to do business with you, they're just gonna have to come to your home. How many do you expect will do that? Or do you think maybe, just maybe they're gonna work do business with someone else? Someone who's willing to brave the highways, perhaps? Maybe.

Your Internet Rights are Eroding, Naturally

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:22:00 +0000

The internet is a real place. Anywhere people congregate is valuable real estate. I don't think the ramifications of this have been even partially realized yet. Internet space is just as valuable as real estate. The rules are very different. Internet space has very different qualities than real estate, but the value is there. It's arguable that cyberspace is the next frontier...we're largely out of real estate, and the internet is wide open.

As internet users, we love that the internet is wide open. It's a huge part of it's appeal. But just as real estate has been grabbed at and dominated by governments and various other sovereignties over time, the internet will prove to be no different.

Expect your internet space and your rights to be challenged. Expect government to exert itself and attempt to control every aspect of it. Not because it's right. Not because it makes sense. Not because it's profitable or productive. All of these things can be debated endlessly. It doesn't matter what side you're on. The only point I expect to get across in this post is this: expect it to happen. It's what government does. Just as our existing rights were observed and/or created out of thin air, established into law and need to be protected vigilantly over time, our rights to surf, network and do business online will require the same effort to establish and preserve them. That's what freedom is.

Left to it's own vices, everything in this world gradually drifts towards chaos. Prosperity and freedom...ANYTHING worth fighting for, requires eternal vigilance. Get ready for a fight. Don't be surprised when you hear about challenges to our freedom, whether online or in the "real" world. It's all the same bullshit. Government is doing it's job. Government serves a valuable and indispensable service. But we have a job to do also...to keep things in check.